Don't Leave
by almostlover-hopelessdream
Summary: Just a short little one-shot about Haymitch and Katniss' time in District 13..


**Just a short little one-shot that I wrote ages ago and forgot to publish! Enjoy!**

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It's near enough midnight when she creeps into his room. Despite the small apartments of District 13 all looking identical, Katniss decides there's something that just screams _Haymitch _about this room. It reminds her of home. Maybe it's because everything that made her home is still lost in District 12. Haymitch had no problems with settling in, Katniss can't decide whether it's because his big, lonely house in Victor's Village never held any sentimental value to him or it's because he's constantly so drunk he doesn't know where he is. Clothes and beer bottles litter the floors and there's a stench of _something _in the air, but rather than being repulsed, Katniss finds this strangely comforting.

He doesn't know she's here. He never knows - he's always passed out on his bed by now, too deep in the drink and his memories to acknowledge reality. She creeps up to his room, just like she does every night, and slips into his bedroom quietly. He looks like a younger man when he sleeps, looks less like the broken, drunken wreck she is faced with every day and more like the strong, fearless warrior that won the Hunger Games. She wonders what he thinks of her.

Lifting the edge of the bed covers, she climbs into his bed as gently as she can. Somewhere, deep in his subconscious, Haymitch knows there's someone there and he reaches out, pulls her back to his chest and buries his head in her neck. She'll be gone by the morning. She always is. She just likes the feeling of being _held_. And no one can hold her like Haymitch. Even when he's practically unconscious. Peeta held her like she was a porcelain doll, destined to break at any moment, or as if he was terrified of her reaction if he held her tighter. Gale can hold her tighter but he can only hold her out of the mutual anger for the Capitol, Gale holds her to remind himself why he's fighting.

When Haymitch holds her, it's as if they're splitting the pain between them. And even though he doesn't know he's doing it, he holds her as if he's never going to let go. And she needs that right now. She needs someone to understand the pain she's going through, Peeta may have been a close second but he's stuck in the Capitol being tortured or killed. Katniss shivers and pushes herself further into Haymitch and feels his arm tightening in response. She thinks she may be imagining things when she feels his lips make contact with her neck.

Katniss begins to cry. This is a new sensation, she's never cried in Haymitch's arms before. She cries for Peeta and for Gale. For Prim and her mother. For Finnick, for Annie. For Johanna and Rue. For Haymitch and herself. She cries because it's unfair that they have to go through this, that she was forced to kill other children. That her friends and family had to see that. That Haymitch had to go through it, then had to lose his family and then had to mentor two kids to their deaths every year.

Suddenly, the strong arms around her are moving, turning her around so her face is pushed into his neck, coating his skin in a salty layer of tears. His hands are on her back, creating soothing patterns as she clings to his bare shoulders and sobs. His voice is soft and gentle and unlike Katniss has ever heard it, "Shh, Sweetheart, shh now. I'm here." He doesn't even sound a little bit drunk, which is surprising as seeing as he was passed out not five minutes ago.

Finally, the tears slow to a halt and she glances up at Haymitch, "H-how long have you been awake, Haymitch?" The question comes out as a whisper and she's suddenly terrified that he knows she's snuck into his bed.

To her surprise, his skin darkens and his eyes dart away from hers.

"Haymitch?"

He takes a deep breath and pulls her tighter to his body, despite the fact she has to crane her neck awkwardly to look at him. "I, I haven't really been asleep tonight, Sweetheart."

She looks at him, confused. "But why didn't you kick me out? Oh, Haymitch, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Sweetheart. I'm the one who should be sorry. Hell, I haven't even been drunk once since we got here. I… Katniss, I know you come to my room every night."

Her cheeks are flaming red and she tries to bury her face into his neck so he doesn't see, "Oh my God…" She whispers, humiliated at being caught. She thought she was doing so well.

"Katniss?" She refuses to look at him, even as his lips brush her ear and he whispers, "Don't leave tonight."

And she doesn't question it, doesn't even get angry that he practically lied to her, because she was lying to him. They both need the comfort. So she allows him to tighten his arms around her and to kiss her once, twice, three times on the lips before she succumbs to sleep.


End file.
